Year of Hell, Part II (episode)
Chakotay works with Annorax to find a way to help Voyager; Janeway tries to keep the ship together and find a way to stop the Krenim weapon-ship. Summary Act One: Repairs Two months after Janeway ordered her crew to abandon ship, ''Voyager'''s new home is a pink nebula, where repair efforts are continually underway. Janeway and Kim are trying to keep Voyager from becoming an indoor nebula. Back on the bridge, the Doctor tries to heal Janeway, who's alvioli have been chemically burned by the nebular gas. She retorts with the fact that if they hadn't stopped the nebula then and there it would have flooded another two decks. The Doctor tells her to delegate her tasks to the other crewmen so she can be treated, but she refuses. Torres reports that she is having trouble with one of the warp nacelles (later revealed to be the starboard one), while the other is a lost cause. Janeway orders her to reroute all power to the good one before unleashing another spasm of coughs. In the mess hall, the group gathers to share a toast to distant friends. Janeway remarks that it has been a while since everyone has gathered in one place, and it is time to catch up. The Doctor happily reports that he has repaired an optronic error in his program. Harry says that he has the power grid up to 32 percent, and that he thinks he can get it up to fifty. Torres, however, reports that she is still having problems with the faulty nacelle, and that she needs three more weeks, minimum. Janeway angrily remarks that she had thought the nebula would be a safe haven while repairs were conducted, but that it was turning into a permanent residence. She concludes by saying that they needed to get back into open space, to find allies and create a fighting force to take on Annorax, and finishes with the statement that Voyager is leaving the nebula first thing the next morning. Seven of Nine reports that the ship is defenseless and that the Captain is in error. The captain says that while she appreciates Seven's opinion, she is leaving the nebula. In a corridor, Tuvok points out that Seven is not supposed to contradict the captain, stating that the captain is always right. Seven, however, sticks to her opinion, which she realizes Tuvok shares. On Annorax's ship, guards retrieve a ragged-looking Chakotay from his holding cell. In the galley, a clean-shaven Chakotay meets Annorax face to face, and is shortly followed by Paris, who put up a fight before coming in. Annorax begs them to sit down and sample some of the food adorning the table. The men comply and begin to feast, when Annorax tells them that all the food is from races that Annorax has erased from time. He remarks that Paris and Chakotay almost became fossils themselves. He then digs into the real conversation, stating that, with their help, Annorax believes he can restore both the Krenim and Voyager, maybe even get Voyager closer to the Alpha Quadrant. Paris is skeptical and retorts, but Chakotay is more encouraged. Paris is lead to his own quarters, but Chakotay is asked to stay. Annorax states that Chakotay seems to be able to perceive time, its moods and emotions. It is now day 161 of the year of hell. Aboard the Krenim ship, Chakotay and Annorax are conducting simulations on objects from Voyager's past, trying to undo the damage. Chakotay identifies Component 37329, a rouge comet that Voyager enocountered eight months previously. According to Chakotay, the course change Voyager made to avoid the comet lead to their entry into Krenim space. Annorax urges Chakotay to conduct a simulation, and the comet is erased from history. But as Chakotay watches, several drastic changes occur as well. Annorax announces that Chakotay just annihilated every civilization within 50 light years. Chakotay realizes aloud that he had not considered the entire history of the comet. Annorax informs him that four billion years ago, the comet had impacted a planet, which created microorganisms in the planet's biosphere. These eventually led to several plant species, which later gave rise to warp-capable species who colonized the entire region. Chakotay remarks that he altered all evolution in the sector. Annorax replies with "past, present, future. They exist as one, they breath as one." Annorax then dives into his tale, beginning with the first victim of the weapon ship, a race called the Rilnar. They had been the Krenim Imperium's greatest enemy. Annorax constructed his ship and turned it on the Rilnar homeworld, erasing them from history. The Krenim were powerful again. But then, a rare disease broke out among the colonies, and over 50 million died in the first year alone. Annorax had failed to remember that the Rilnar had introduced a crucial genome into the Krenim biology that rendered the fatal disease dormant. He tells Chakotay that he cant imagine the burden of memory that he carries. He tried to convince himself that his victims weren't really being killed, because they never existed. Sometimes, he can almost convince himself. Chakotay asks Annorax why he thinks he can still restore the timeline after two centuries of failure, and Annorax retorts by asking Chakotay why he thinks Voyager will make it back to Earth. The odds against them are astronomical, yet they keep trying. Chakotay agrees, but states that they dont annihilate everyone in their way. Annorax finished that Chakotay can help him change all that, that together they can restore the Krenim and Voyager. Annorax then tells Chakotay that he is going to show him the heart of the vessel, the temporal core. Act Two: Protocols A still disabled Voyager is under attack – from an asteroid field. But with shields down, the asteroids are beginning to erode the hull away. Torres reports that the engines are not responding, and Kim says that with the deflector offline, the micrometeoroids are eroding the hull. Captain Janeway orders emergency power to be rerouted to the deflector, but Tuvok states that there is none available. The captain rises and leaves the bridge, going to deflector control. Tuvok alerts her that deflector control has been designated hazard level 4, but Janeway simply waves it off and steps into the turbolift. She sprints to deflector control and pries open the door, but the room is in flames, and she staggers back across the corridor. Hailing the bridge, she tells them that there is a fire in the room and asks about the engines. Torres informs her that the warp core is still offline. Kim reports that the micrometeoroid density is increasing and one of the nacelle pylons is buckling. Janeway grabs a broken piece of conduit and holds it like a shield. She hails the bridge again, stating that she is going in and to stand by to engage the main deflector, and also to tell the Doctor that she will be coming back with severe burns. Tuvok tries to talk her out of it, but she persists. She prepares herself, asks Voyager to "be kind", and plunges in. On the bridge, Kim reports that she has accessed deflector control, then that she is stabilizing the particle emitters, and finally that the deflector is online. As the micrometeoroids cease hitting the hull, Tuvok hails Janeway, to no avail. Everyone on the bridge exchanges worried looks. Back in deflector control, Janeway is on the floor, unconscious, badly seared. Janeway wakes up in the mess hall, lying down next to the Doctor, who informs her that she has sustained third degree burns to 60 percent of her body. She gets up and prepares to leave, when the Doctor tells her that she is staying with him for observation. She asks him if there is anything else wrong with her, and he says not physically. She chuckles and begins to ask him if he thinks she is crazy, but he interrupts her and says that she is showing all the symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Janeway states that her only obsession is with saving her ship and crew, and that if she has taken reckless measures to do that, she wouldnt call it a medical condition. The Doctor says that if he feels that she has compromised herself, then he can and will relieve her of duty. Janeway refuses to stay in the mess hall, and the Doctor asks if that is final. When she replies that it is, he relieves her of command and tells her to have a seat. Janeway turns and asks him how he plans to implement the protocol. Tuvok's security team is gone, the brigs have been destroyed, and force fields are inoperative. The Doctor will need to grab a phaser, because before Janeway gives up command, he'll have to shoot her. The Doctor informs her that he will be putting an official note in his log, and that when they return to Earth she is risking a court martial. She says that compared to what she has been through the last few days, it would be a small price to pay. And as she leaves the room, she states that if they ever get back to the Alpha Quadrant, she'll be happy to face the music. Act Three: Alliances On board the Krenim ship, Annorax and Chakotay are talking in Annorax's office. Chakotay gets Annorax to tell him that when Annorax fired his weapon a second time, the colony of Kyana Prime was eradicated, and along with went Annorax's wife, children, and grandchildren, his future destroyed. Annorax has spent two centuries trying to undo that mistake. But no matter how close he comes, he can never quite get Kyana Prime back. Back in his quarters, Chakotay and Paris are thinking of ways to get off the ship and find Voyager. While Chakotay thinks his techniques with Annorax are working, Paris tells him that Obrist is coming around, and that they can trust him. Obrist has told Paris how to take the temporal core offline, and also that Paris can send a message to Voyager from the comfort of his own quarters. Chakotay still thinks he can reach Annorax, but then the alarm sounds. On the bridge, Annorax is preparing to eradicate the Ram Izad species, and act which he believes will restore the Krenim Imperium to 52% of their former glory. Chakotay tries to talk him out of it, but he fires and alters history again. Paris returns to his quarters, and sends the message. 50 light years away, Voyager has made an alliance with two races, the Nihydron and the Mawasi. Having received the message that could only have come from Tom Paris, Janeway informs her crew that she is dividing them up about the vessels. She sends some of her crew to the three Nihydron warships, and the rest to the two Mawasi cruisers, and they prepare to install temporal shields on the vessels. Tuvok remains on the bridge till the last, and says goodbye to his dear friend. Janeway and Tuvok share a hug, and Janeway comes close to tears, but holds it back, and Seven escorts Tuvok away. Alone, Janeway walks around her bridge, sighs, and takes her place in the captain's chair, her home away from home. Act Four: Happy New Year The Krenim vessels alarms go off as sensors detect the makeshift armada of Mawasi and Nihydron vessels, accompanied by Voyager. On the bridge, Annorax chuckles at the attempt, stating that since the ship is outside space-time, they are invincible. However, Chakotay tells him that Voyager has likely informed the Mawasi and Nihydron homeworlds of the temporal shielding, and they will be protected from the weapon. He also says that Voyager would not be attacking the vessel if Janeway knew she wouldn't cause any damage. The group of vessels fires at the Krenim vessel, but cause no damage. On the ship, Paris is working frantically to take the warp core offline. Annorax orders the ship prepared for multiple temporal incursions, and targets two of the Nihydron vessels, eliminating them. Annorax orders Obrist to continue, but Obrist does nothing. Annorax turns and forcefully orders him to destroy the other ships, but Obrist instead takes the temporal core offline, and transports Chakotay and Paris to one of the remaining ships. Tuvok hails Voyager from that ship and informs her of the progress, and Janeway states that everything is going as planned. On the Krenim ship, Annorax orders conventional weapons activated, and the ship fires many torpedoes at the vessels, hitting all of them. A few hit Voyager, but one severely damages a Mawasi vessel, causing it to curve down and crash into Voyager's bow. As Janeway rises from the floor of her all but destroyed vessel, she stares at the viewscreen, at the Krenim ship, and discovers her plan. She hails Tuvok, telling him that her weapons are down, but that she is setting a collision course. She then orders all the ships to take their temporal shields offline. Tuvok protests that they won't be protected, but Janeway says that that is the idea, that if the Krenim ship is erased from time all of history might be restored. She finishes by saying that this is one year she'd like to forget. As Voyager races towards the Krenim ship, Janeway says "Time's up". Voyager crashes into the Krenim ship and explodes, destabilizing the temporal core. In his ready room, Annorax watches helplessly as he wife's lock of hair vanishes in time. The Krenim ship is eradicated from the timeline, which snaps back to what everything should be, and it is Day 1 of the year. Voyager, completely free of damage, brings its astrometrics lab online and passes through Krenim space without incident, and Annorax is finally reunited with his beloved wife. Log Entries *''Captain's log, stardate 51425.4. Our condition has left us vulnerable to spatial anomalies and to any alien species eager for a piece of hardware. We've taken refuge in a class nine nebula. '' *''Captain's log, stardate 51682.2. I've forged a coalition with the Nihydron and the Mawasi. Together, we're preparing to attack the weapon ship. '' *''Captain's log, stardate 51252.3. The past couple of weeks have been uneventful, but we've made excellent progress on the new astrometrics lab. '' Memorable Quotes "Time's up!" :- Captain Janeway, as Voyager nears collision with the timeship Background Information * This and the preceding episode were cited by Ronald D. Moore as examples of how the entire Star Trek: Voyager series should have been played out, with the ship taking heavy damage and heavy losses. *The "Year of Hell" episodes are the only Star Trek episodes to take place over such a large span of time. However, the temportal incursion during the conclusion effectively erases all events which took place, as well as those of "Before and After", from history. *Janeway claims she plans to replicate a bottle of Saint-Émilion in the penultimate scene. Apparently it is possible to replicate fine wines and even specific vintages, as she adds, "2370. I hear that was a good year." The comment may refer to the fact that the final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation takes place in that year. *This episode, along with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect" and the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Twilight", form a genre of episode that some fans called the "Bad Dream." In each of these episodes, catastrophic events occur, and then a time-change returns everything back to normal. Links and References Guest Stars *Kurtwood Smith as Annorax *John Loprieno as Obrist *Peter Slutsker as Krenim Commandant *Lise Simms as Annorax's wife *Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited) *Sue Henley as Brooks (uncredited) References Alsuran; Alsuran Empire; astrometrics; chief medical officer; Class-9 nebula; Krenim; Krenim Imperium; Krenim temporal weapon ship; Kyana Prime; Malkoth; Malkothian spirits; Mawasi; Mawasi starship; Nihydron; Nihydron starship; Ram Izad; ration cubes; Rilnar; Saint-Émilion; temporal core; temporal incursion; temporal shield; Traumatic Stress Syndrome Category:VOY episodes de:Ein Jahr Hölle, Teil II nl:Year of Hell, Deel II